What’s Your Holiday Pattern?

My posts have been quite toddler focused lately so here’s a little something for the adults.

The Christmas season is upon us, and with that comes holiday parties, dinners out and family get-togethers; it seems like there’s something going on every night of the week. It’s important (and fun!) to celebrate the holidays, but that also means: less time to workout & cook healthy meals, and more extras in our diets like alcohol, appetizers & sugar.

I’m sure most of us recognize this pattern: we go into the holidays with the best intentions to make healthy choices, drink in moderation, avoid desserts and stick to our portions, but on January 2nd most of us feel guilty, are 5-10 lbs heavier and ready for a detox. Sound familiar?

What if this year was different; is it possible to break “the holiday binge – new years guilt” pattern? According to The Mindful Diet by Ruth Wolever PhD, Beth Reardon MS, RD, LDN apparently there is, and it’s all about recognizing the triggers that lead to unhealthy eating. Once you identify the external & internal triggers it’s easier to change the behaviour pattern.

Let’s go through the exercise that Wolever and Reardon outline in the book, but with a specific focus on the holidays. Major holidays come around at least 4 times per year; wouldn’t it be nice to go into them with a healthy approach, and come out feeling good for once?

Let’s start with identifying external triggers (you may identify with 2 or all of them):

All-or-nothing thinking (e.g. I just overdid it at breakfast, my whole day of eating is now ruined so who cares I’ll continue to eat badly all day)

Catastrophic beliefs

Fatigue

Boredom

Pain

Relationships with family members

The next step in the process of changing your pattern is to do a “chain analysis” or “chaining,” which will help you examine the events, thoughts and feelings that lead to an unhealthy incident.

Take Lisa for example, it’s Christmas Day and she’s had a few drinks and grazes all day on appetizers: multiple types of cheeses & crackers, deep-fried finger foods, mixed nuts and salty snacks. She goes into dinner feeling full, but loads her plate with turkey and all the sides. She’s stuffed when dessert rolls around, but it’s her favourite: grandma’s famous sweet potato pie with vanilla ice cream – she has to have a slice. Dessert is finished and everyone is having an aperitif so she doesn’t say no. Lisa’s stomach hurts and she’s so full she can barely breathe. She’s tired, feels guilty and starts beating herself up for being so weak. She really thought she had it under control this year.

Looking back Lisa attributes overdoing it to a lack of willpower, but when she works backwards to create the chain of events, she discovers there were many contributing factors: events (a fight with her mother, a poor sleep, eating a small breakfast & lunch), negative thoughts (feeling fat all week as a result of indulging in daily treats at the office) and emotions (sadness).

Chaining may seem painstaking at first, but once you get good at identifying the triggers – an external stressor, a distorted thought or an emotion – and your responding negative behaviour – you can change your pattern and start to develop healthy habits: working out to de-stress from the fight with your mom, eating a healthy breakfast & lunch, filling one small plate with appetizers and paying attention to portion sizes. Choosing dessert or an aperitif.

One of my favourite sayings – “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results.” Why put yourself through your typical holiday pattern of over-doing it, feeling guilty, berating yourself and starting the new year with resolutions and new diet. Why not change your pattern this year? I encourage you to create your own chain analysis this week, and see what happens over the holidays.

I also encourage you to ask for a copy of The Mindful Diet for Christmas. To be clear, this isn’t a typical diet book, it’s about adopting a new way of thinking when it comes to eating by addressing the roots of unhealthy behaviour. It will teach you how to eat mindfully, put you in control of food and help you break the cycle of yo-yo dieting.

I wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season. Merry Christmas!

About Lauren

Welcome! I’m Lauren Follett.
A couple years ago, while working in the corporate world of downtown Toronto, I decided to pursue my passion for healthy living and enrolled in the Distance Education program with The Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. I studied on my lunch breaks, after work, on the weekends, and while travelling through South America.
The world of health & nutrition can be confusing. There are a lot of mixed messages out there when it comes to health: low fat, low calories, sugar-free, low-carb, gluten-free…leaving you confused, frustrated, and wondering where to start. That’s where I come in.
As a Registered Nutritionist, my goal is to help you accomplish your health & wellness goals. I don’t believe in diets or quick fixes. I believe in living a healthy lifestyle, which requires you to get educated, and learn how to make healthy choices.
I’m dedicated to working closely with my clients to teach & motivate them to make healthy choices, discuss healthy living strategies and create customized nutrition programs that fit with their life.